Apparatus for forming powdered material into grains



1943- M. VOGEL-JORGENSEN APPARATUS FOR FORMING POWDERED MATERIAL INTOGRAINS Fil'ed May 9, 1941 ATToRNEYf Patented Feb. 16, 1943 2,311,319APPARATUS FOR FORMING rowps'nan MATERIAL I INTO GRAINS MikaelVogel-Jorgensen, Co

nhagen, Denmark,

D assignor to F. L. Smidth & 00., New York, N. Y., a corporation of NewJersey Application May 9, 1941, Serial No. 392,654

In Denmark June 10, 1940 4 Claims. (CL 259-78) This invention relates toapparatus for forming powdered material into grains or Particles, sothat the material may be more readily sub- Jected to further treatment.More particularly, the invention is concerned with a novel appa ratusfor the purpose which operates more satisfactorily than those heretoforeused in that the formation of very fine grains, which is generally notdesirable, may be avoided, less power is required, the parts liable towear are readily accessible, and the discharge from the apparatus oflarge lumps and cakes of the material is prevented.

Various types of apparatus have heretofore been employed for granulatingpowdered material and one such apparatus includes a rotary drum withinwhich operate stirring means. In such a machine, the material issubjected to a somewhat violent stirring action resulting in theformation of a substantial amount of very fine grains, the presence ofwhich in the final product is ordinarily undesirable. Anotherobjectionable feature is that a considerable amount of power is consumedin operating the machine and, since the operating parts which aresubject to wear are within a closed vessel, they are not easilyaccessible for inspection or renewal.

A second type of granulating apparatus commonly used includes a.stationary container within which operates a stirring device and in suchmachines, part of the material is formed into a layer on the containerwall. The layer continues to build up during operation, and when, intime,

to the inner surface of the vessel will be brought into position to beacted on by the blades, and the building up on that surface of a layerof material which interferes with the operation of the machine is thusprevented.

Preferably the rotary blades are mounted on a shaft with successiveblades along the shaft angularly offset. Also, the machine preferablyincludes a pair of such shafts and each shaft it breaks loose, largelumps or cakes of the maing blades within the vessel, the tips oftheblades describing circles substantially tangent to the surface of theinner wall of the vessel. Material introduced into the vessel at one endis stirred and advanced by the blades to a discharge adjacent which aremeans by which lumps of material are broken up before they leave thevessel. The oscillation of the vessel during the stirring operationinsures that material adhering carries a second series of blades whichcooperate with a grate at the discharge from the vessel to effectbreaking of the lumps. This second series of blades and grate may bereplaced, if desired, by one or more cutting wheels which serve the samepurpose.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to theaccompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a longitudinal verticalsectional view of one form of apparatus constructed in accordance withthe invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the machine shown in i Fig. 3 is a sectionalview on the line 33 of 1 Fig. 2; A

4 is a sectional view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view similar to Fig. 1 showing a modifiedconstruction.

In the apparatus illustrated in Fig. 1, the vessel I8 has the generalform of a trough and is arcuate in cross-section. It is provided withlive rings I I resting on pairs of rollers I2 and each roller is mountedon a shaft I3 supported in bearings I4 and mounted on suitable bases I5.Rollers I8, mounted for rotation on vertical axes, engage the lateralfaces of one of the live rings between the rollers I2 of one pair andkeep the vessel from shifting endwise.

A pair of rings I1 encircle the vessel between its ends and plates l8are connected to the rings and extend outwardly therefrom at the bottomof the vessel. A link I9 is connected at one end to a pin 20 between theplates and at the other end to a crank 2| on shaft}! which is mounted insuitable .bearings and is connected through a coupling 23 to a slowrunning shaft in a gear box 24.

Bearings 25 at opposite ends of the vessel support shafts 26a, 261),which extend through plates 21 closing the open ends of the vessel.Shaft 26a is driven by a motor, not shown, through coupling 28, and gear29 on the shaft meshes with gear 30 on shaft 26b to drive the latter.Shaft 26b drives the high-speed shaft in gear box 24 set and each bladelies at an angle to its plane of rotation so that it may'perform itsadvancing function. Material is introduced into the vessel at one endthrough an inlet 34 and is stirred and advanced by blades 32 toward adischarge opening 35 through the bottom of the vessel at its other end,the discharged material passing down through a discharge chute "a.

A second series of blades 30 is mounted on each shaft above thedischarge opening and these blades are secured in place by bolts 31passing through the blades and through plates SI lying against the facesof the shafts opposite to those against which the blades bear. Lyingover the discharge opening is a grate made up of bars 38 and the barsare in alignment with the spaces between the blades 36. The length ofthe blades is preferably such that they pass between the .bars at onepoint in their rotation, and the blades and grate bars, -accordingly,cooperate to break up any lumps of material which may be advancedthereto.

The blades 32 of the series on the respective shafts are in alignmentand angularly offset so that they will not interfere with one another.The inner wall'of the vessel is of arcuate section and the arrangementis such that the tips of the blades 32 describe circles which aresubstantially tangent with the inner surface of the vessel. Also, theshafts 26a, 26b are rotated in opposite directions and in such mannerthat the tips of the blades sweep upwardly along the inner surface ofthe vessel.

In the operation of the apparatus, the material to be treated isintroduced into the vessel in moistened condition or else is moistenedafter being fed into the vessel. The material is stirred and forcedonward by the blades 32 toward the discharge and, at the same time, thevessel is continuously oscillated. By this oscillation, material whichhas adhered to the upper or lower parts of the inner wall of thecontainer out of reach of the stirring and advancing blades will beperiodically exposed to the action of the blades and the material sodetached will be forced along to the discharge. At the discharge, anylumps collecting on the grate will be broken up by the action of theblades 36.

The modified form of apparatus shown in Fig. is similar in all respectsto that'illustrated in Fig. 1, except that theblades 36 are omitted fromthe shafts 28a, 23b and .there is no grate at the discharge opening. Thedischarge of lumps is prevented by means of a cutting wheel 40 mountedon a shaft ll rurming in a bushing 42 which may be supported in anyconvienient manner. The shaft is driven by a motor 43 through gearing Hand coupling 45. The cutting wheel 4| lies close to the surface of theinner wall of the container and as lumps are advanced along that wall,they are broken up before they can be discharged.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for forming powdered material into grains and similarparticles which comprises a vessel having an inner wall of arcuatecross- -section, a mounting for the vessel on which it may be oscillatedon a horizontal axis, means for oscillating the vessel on its mounting,a pair of shafts extending through the vessel and beyond the endsthereof, said shafts lyi parallel to but offset from said axis ofoscillation, stationary bearings for the shafts beyond the ends of thevessel and independent thereof,'the ends of the vessel being constructedand arranged to permit oscillation of the vessel about the shafts,stirring blades on the shafts within the vessel, and means for rotatingthe shafts.

2. Apparatus for forming powdered material into grains and similarparticles which comprises a vessel having an inner wall of arcuatecrosssection and open ends, a mounting for the vessel on which it may beoscillated on a horizontal axis, means for oscillating the vessel on itsmounting, a pair of shafts extending through the vessel and out throughthe open ends thereof, plates closing the open ends of the vessel, theshafts extending through the plates and the plates remaining stationaryas the vessel oscillates, stationary bearings for the shafts beyond theends of the vessel and independent thereof, stirring blades on theshafts within the vessel, and means for rotating the shafts.

3. Apparatus for forming powdered material into grains and similarparticles which comprises a vessel having an inner wall of arcuate crosssection, a mounting beneath the vessel on which it may be oscillated ona horizontal axis, means for oscillating the vessel on its mounting, apair of shafts extending through the vessel and beyond the ends thereof,said shafts lying parallel to but offset from said axis of oscillation,stationary bearings for the shafts beyond the ends of the vessel andindependent of the vessel, the ends of the vessel being constructed andarranged to permit oscillation of the vessel about the shafts, stirringblades on the shafts, and means for rotating the shafts.

4. Apparatus for forming finely divided material into grains and similarparticles, which comprises a vessel having an inner wall of arcuatecross-section, a plurality of rollers on which the vessel rests and onwhich it may be oscillated on a horizontal axis, means for oscillatingthe vessel on said axis, a pair of shafts mounted for rotationindependently of the vessel and extending through the vessel parallel tobut offset from the axis of oscillation of the vessel, the ends 01 thevessel being constructed and arranged tr permit oscillation of thevessel about the shafts stirring blades on the shafts within the vesseland means for rotating the shafts.

MIKAEL VOGEL-JORGENSEN.

